Starting My own Business and the Financial Pressure
I am now in my third month of running Mrs MummyPenny, this is exciting and I am enjoying it hugely but the part of earning not much money whilst I build my business is stressing me out somewhat so in my panic I turn to Money Dashboard for help. Read on for a review of the money dashboard app.
I have been given 2 very simple pieces of advice by a few people who have set up businesses of their own though that this to spend as little money as possible and maximise your income as quickly as possible. So I am trying my hardest to get ‘mates rates’ on all of these things cost set-up money, or I am researching online to get best deal going. Don’t buy anything for the business unless critical. My laptop died last week following the windows 10 installation, don’t do it!! This is an essential requirement for an internet based business! So far new laptop has cost me £500 and PC world will have earned £100 if they can manage to get the data from my dead old laptop.
My Rescue Remedy – Money Dashboard
Money Dashboard really helps me to get in control of the financial side of my personal and business life. To make life even easier they have just introduced an app. A really simple view of all your accounts all together in one place. This really helps me as I have 3 main accounts in 2 places. I have a First Direct sole account and joint account and also a Tesco credit card that gets paid off every month (for the tons of Clubcard vouchers I get every quarter;-)). Check out this Youtube clip for a great explanation of the app.
You log in securely and then hit refresh on your accounts. For Tesco this will prompt me to enter a verification code sent by Tesco, with First Direct I need to enter a unique security code from my First Direct app. Then I am in and all of the transaction data is updated. The transactions section is the bit I always go to first. I like to go back a couple of weeks to remind myself of big purchases to try to scare me into spending less. All my spending has a tagged category, for example Esso Broadwater – FUEL or Trussells Butchers – GROCERIES, Post office – POSTAGE/SHIPPING. This is brilliant for categorising my spend and really seeing what I am spending where.
There are certain categories that I am particularly interesting in monitoring, grocery spend and dining and drinking
Blogging Material for Mrs Mummypenny 🙂
The other slightly unexpected benefit is that seeing all this information gives me great ideas for money saving blogs. I have always done internet food shopping with Tesco so I am going to try a few different supermarkets, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Asda and test all their delivery services, and of course fully use all the discount vouchers available for a first internet shop;-) I am keen to test whom is the best and the cheapest for internet shopping. And it is really making me think about money spent on takeaways and dining out. We have been cutting back on the takeaways which let’s face it are unhealthy and expensive and save up for nice dining out treats instead.
Here are the links to the app for both Apple and Android. Please download it and take control of your budgets now:-)
Download and try the Money Dashboard app for iTunes/Apple devices here
23 Responses
its great to see all my money in one place i can see my debts and if they are out of control. if im spending too much this is quick and at my fingers to accept at any time so i alway know where i am. whether in the supermarket or lying in bed xx
Agree, it might almost guilt you into not spending. I achieved a first this week, I went into John Lewis to get my free coffee and cake with My John Lewis vouchers and bought nothing. Absolutely nothing:-) You are in the competition to win the £100 in vouchers.
I think a way in which I would use it would be to closely monitor what I am spending my money on so that I can see the holes in the bucket quickly and deal with them!
Great, see the holes in the bucket:-) You’re in with a chance of winning £100 in gift vouchers.
I would use it less as a money saving system, more to see where I can better spend! We bought our first house last year and are doing it up bit by bit. What we don’t spend in one area pays for something else.
What a great shout, how exciting buying your first house. Its such a special time making it all yours:-) Vouchers would certainly come in useful:-)
Very handy for adding up all the ‘incidental’ spending and categorising my purchases. I always find I have spent more than realised, especially with contactless payments. Hopefully I can monitor this more closely now.
Agree, that is the disadvantage to contactless. I used to spend a small fortune on coffee when I worked at EE.
This ap looks a good way of keeping track of your money
I’d love to win the vouchers x I’d like to buy a new rug for our lounge as mine is in the garden lol!!!!!@
Oooo I so need a rug for our living room too. But everyone I see is 100’s of £££ (john Lewis!!) or hubby hates it!!
Me too, I love the idea of Santander, but I cant bear to leave First Direct…their customer service is just so amazing and almost worth not having all that cashback….I know arggggg from Mrs Mummypenny. They recently gave me compensation of nearly £700 for a timing error on my mortgage. I have some friends who get 100’s of cashback out of Santander I’ll see how they get it??
My partner proposed in December 2014 and 2 weeks later we found out we were pregnant. Instead of using our savings to pay for a wedding we ended up buying baby items which ate up all of our savings. I recently signed up to MoneyDashboard and update everyday or so. I have found it incredibly useful in seeing where our money goes, we were spending £120+ a week on food (for 2 of us) but now we are spending less than £70.00 now we know where our money is going. I find the spending trackers are really good and look at them every day or so to check we are not exceeding our budgets on things like clothes (baby clothes are so cute but we have a budget now!), petrol and groceries. Since downloading the dashboard we have saved £1,000 towards our wedding, cut our grocery shop in half and no longer go overdrawn as we know when bills are due to debit our accounts. 🙂
Wow this is a amazing☺☺ My spending on groceries is horrendous..it’s adds up to so much. So I’m working equally hard to make it lower. £70 a week is great where do you shop?
Sainsburys had a deal £18 off a £60 shop so used that last week. Starting to stockpile so thats helping get the cost down 🙂
I tried ocado last week. £20 Discount on an £80 spend. I will try sainsburys next☺☺
I’ve been using Money Dashboard for some time and it has helped me keep a handle on where I’m spending and on what. It’s also helped me keep on track with the savings and clearing credit cards as I can see everything in one place, which is something I could never manange before.
I’ve got a zero % credit card with a balance being paid off…I’ve not added it but you’re right. I should so you literally see everything.
Seeing finances in one place,
makes us think of our spending pace.
shopping bills cut, as we shop around,
changing banks if it brings fees down.
My money will grow as I start the cash hoard
and it’s all thanks to Money Dashboard.
There’s savings to be made & yes there are many
if you just listen to Mrs MummyPenny!
This is brilliant….im going to have to share this on my facebook page☺☺☺☺ Absolutely brilliant.
good app – won’t let hubby have it though as it will reveal the true amount of take aways he has !!!!
Vouchers would be great for more school uniform, bought wrong colour for son in trousers and daughter lost her school uniform shorts after week 2……
Oh no….I dont think J wants to know how much he spends on takeaways!!
Hiya So my HSBC account, first direct required me to enter my generated security code, then it downloads everything. Same as Tesco credit card, it just needs a code that has been sent to my mobile at that moment. Know what you mean about credit card though…the only things that tend to go through my bank account are bills/direct debits and the odd cash pulled from ATM. Most other spend goes on the Tesco credit card (for clubcard vouchers) which is then paid off every month. I will pass on your feedback though to MD. See if things can be smoothed out for you:-)
Life gets easier as the children get older, unless you have another as I did! 3 boys under 5 at one point!